Sometimes a Celestial View Required
Sometimes it’s as simple
As it’s wonderful
Lord made us
And Lord loves us
It might not seem that way
In hospitals
Especially in cancer wards
Burn wards
Terminal compartments
But there
Is love
It’s in these places
In the prayers
And in the spirits
That are struggling all
Around
Where angels
Set themselves as well
To listen
Watch
And weep
On assignment
Forsaken
Never
By the ones
Remaining
(and that’s most
of them)
On our side
A war in heaven
Wars on Earth
Extant
Allowed
By a God who loves so much
To keep us on our own
Even though there could be
Cosmic automation
And so there are
The sides
The wings of war that
Transitory fly
Sinless disease
Conditions
Damage
And those fighting all around
For health
Finally
For all the foes
Of war
Of what we cause each other
And
Disease
By what happens
For a reason
Or by anyway
Keep going at it
Kid
Keep going for the healing
And all you
With the kid
In the battle
All the battles
On
After
The battlefields
Stay with
Us
Keep us going toward
All the health available
On this
Side
You know
And
Yes
Perfectly
The other
C L Couch
Photo by Bernd 📷 Dittrich on Unsplash
we know they’re there
Round Numbers
Everything is ringed
Starting with the noise
That some of us
Must have
Inside our ears
Though meaning more
The matter of
Rings upon the water
In the rain
The ring-edge of the Earth
Around it
And through it
The circular movements of
Well
Everything
The ringness of orbits
‘Round the sun
The shape and movements
Kept inside
Of asteroids
And comets
How many planets
Each world
Is ringed as well
With its own attributes
And energies
Then watch
(or have the artist’s
replication)
The spiral movement of the galaxy
The rounded shapes of all
The galaxies
Of turning stars
And the dancing pas de deux of
Nebulae passing
Around
And by its own
Rule for ballet
Sometimes through each other
Maybe to shout
Or loudly
Sing
Like on that sunny street
ROUND
Is extraordinary
Necessary
Consider all the curvature that must
Be on
The faces of God
C L Couch
Photo by John Peters on Unsplash
I threw a rock into the lake with the intent of photographing the ripple effect and with the thought of how when we are kind to others it grows out in ripples to others who in turn spread kindness (still) to others.
[photographer's caption, revised]
Unlikely Sabbath
(a kind of call to worship)
We
Understand
Misunderstand
(together)
The sabbath
As a time to go to church
To pray
Officially
For things we might remember
Afterward
Then be free of all of it
For food
For games
For preparing all the real time
To follow
The next day
Or
Instantly
As we might be driven
Driving
That is
Ourselves
But is the sabbath more than services
And really
Was it ever
Well
Ancient reminders
I suppose
The priests to the people
Saying
Or as if to say
By the tent
Then by the temple
In here is the
Holy of holies
Don’t forget it
Don’t forget
Our dedication
So
What is the sabbath
We might
Wonder
Being first
A seventh day
Created
A day for God to rest
And so
A model for
Ourselves
Modeled after God
After all
And so
First week
Completed
And so
Laid out for us
Six days of creating
Then a day
This day
To keep it holy
As in set apart
For
A spiritual reason
Like the fruits of
Field and vine
Set apart
For spiritual
Remembrance
And
I don’t know what
To say
Anymore
Except that it was
Said
Thank goodness not by me
To remember
As in have
The sabbath
It’s a discipline
To rest
An invitation
To play well
To remember
The source
Of love
And everything
That’s good
C L Couch
Photo by Sai De Silva on Unsplash
a telling of creation
what is the sense of things
in creation
first nothing
we suppose
and then something
a sound
perhaps
and then some light
to they
could see
what they were doing
though I imagine
angels who were
blind
or deaf
could know something
was happening
the light from dark
or light and
dark
that is
two halves
both being worthy
then some water
black
and barely lit
and then some land
pushed up
somehow
by a hand
that might like molding
or making
in another way
and the land shall need
the sun and moon
water already
extant
and now some creatures
on the land
there already being
beings
in the water
and everyone will need fed
and so have plants
for food
as well as beauty
and we shall say that
this is good
and who shall say
hmm
we need someone
on Earth
to day
and so we make some people
mold them wondrously
such beauty
from the ground
and they shall have five senses
mainly
though not all
with all
and they shall speak
who can
or gesture
or express in another way
everything
to say the act of making
to a lesser degree
but make that noise
anyway
and then settle into
utterances
that God can understand
(having made language)
and they
and we
can understand each other
understanding
being a first feature
in the mind
of creation
and to degrees
our own
based on something else
the riskiest thing
to have been made
and how the angels
might have argue
over this
a thing
it seems
they do not have
though
once beholding
might argue
for
in angel-workers
negotiating with
the boss
and it’s will
of course
the wish
the dream
the mind
the spirit
and the choice
to think
and also feel
to decide
and first
one’s course through Eden
and then
the names of animals
then after
all the sadnesses
a course on Earth
and all the things on Earth
to get
to know
c l couch
photo by Elvis Bekmanis on Unsplash
2 poems about the will of God
Last Will and Testament
My will
Then yours
I mess things up
Then turn to you
It’s a formula
I guess
Like knowing what I want Scripture to say
Then going to it
Shaking the Magic 8-Ball
Many times
Until it says
What I want it
To say
Doesn’t make much of a God of you
Which is a really stupid way
To think and act
Before a God
But you withhold
It seems
Act in return
With anger that is intimate
And telling
In that way
Though sometimes in the actual storm
That no one saw coming
As a penalty
And sign
Remembering at Last
I’m tired
I want
To write some
More
Without a thing to say
Meaning I want
To write
And have nothing
To say
That God is good
And loves you so much
That God is true
In being real
And being faithful
Perfectly
For you
Well
Out of nothing
That is a great deal
And the great deal about the Lord
Is simply to believe
And that is all
Something called grace
Free and easy
(always free
sometimes not easy)
Does the rest
And we shall meet
Where love has made a place for us
Just outside of Eden
With the angel
This time
Setting down the sword
Letting the fire go
To let us in
C L Couch
Photo by andrew solok on Unsplash
Artist Colony
Do I have
Anything
To share with you
Today
I could
And should remind you
God is love
And also
By the way
That God is true
As nothing else is true
In fact
Is the model
For the truth and
Trueness
That we try
And truth builds justice
Out of reason
And humility
The better things
That we have going
Not being
God
But being made
And image-like
(dark glass
you know)
We are models
With gifts
And what shall we give
Out of our giftedness
Our making
Now we make
And our
Giving matters
So much to
Each other
And also
More than we think on it
To God
So make
Co-make
And give
Even as the world
And circumstance allow
For God is love
And we are love
In this
We are the best we are
On the best Earth there is
Care
And health
And contribution
Shall keep us in
Our giving
And receiving
To take
Care
Be healthy
Let others help
(remember crafting tables)
Be love
While giving love
And
Who knows
Truth and justice might
Will out
In love
C L Couch
Photo by Tom Parsons on Unsplash
A photo that speaks for itself.
[photographer’s caption]
At first, I thought this was Washington, D.C. But it isn’t. But I suppose it could be anywhere, with or without an impressive building in the background.
[my caption]
London, United Kingdom
God Love You like a Lizard
God love you like
A lizard
You know the
Small
The salamander kind
Green or red or brown
But made
Just right for all impulses so
To thrive
To move with halting grace
Through life
To dine upon whatever
Then to sleep among
Warm rocks and sheltering leaves
When its world
Is all right
Around it
Yes
Love and the
Lord
Like the eagle
Too
With expansive and majestic
Wings
And the beak that promises
To tear many things
Asunder
(yes
my dear
like lizard's flesh)
But don’t forget the lizard
(in its primacy)
With all its wonder
Small
Green
Or red or brown
Unassuming
Fit
With nature
And the cosmos
In its
Tiny
Tiny
Role
Inside creation
And via its (tiny) role
Above
C L Couch
A Little Prophecy for Friday
(any day—and I hope it’s good for you)
When everyone had
Gathered
In whatever room
Maybe
A second-story place
When he appeared
The first thing Jesus said was
“Peace”
A signal for the resurrection
Maybe
That now a time of resolution is
At hand
That reconciliation is
The way of things
And that
of course
Is what has happened
In that
The way of Earth has changed
Or
Rather it is on its way toward
Being finished
And peace is the new order
Any victory
Through peace
Peaceful understanding
Peaceful
Action
We may announce
Maybe in a Pentecost-al way
(with red
balloons and
such
all environmentally
worked
out)
That a new order is at hand
That
Sorry
Isn’t new
(no merchandising
on it)
The joy that was in Genesis
Unending
Without flaw
Is at hand
And all for us
And God
And God with us
And if the cosmos has
Fallen
With us
Then
All material
And who knows
Maybe issues
Will have their first
Finality
As well
C L Couch
John 20:19
Photo by Ronald Cuyan on Unsplash
the tree
the tree of knowledge
was left there
in Eden
behind the angel
with the sword
now
does all this
seem fair
for what we paid
and all the consequences
promises
of pain
by the way
should we have access
to the tree
or given a seed
to take
to plant between the rivers
where we had to
grow the other things
to live
maybe we could have learned
more
with more servings
or at least
one more bite
if that’s all there was
(and if so
such punishments
for such a single
bite
two bites between our
mother
and our father)
does the tree
with Eden
stand there
still
is it like
the one we’ll meet
in
New Jerusalem
if here
it would be
the first and final
treasure
maybe a good thing
sigh
that as with the garden
in entirety
we don’t know what happened
where it
is
how we might have it
maybe enjoy it
later on
c l couch
Genesis 2:17
photo by Jr Korpa on Unsplash
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